


Carpe Diem

by TheAnswerIsAlways42



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Death, Depression, Friendship, Mystery, Starts out nice but gets sad, Suicide, Time - Freeform, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-22
Packaged: 2018-12-05 09:56:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11575695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAnswerIsAlways42/pseuds/TheAnswerIsAlways42
Summary: Carpe diem, quam minimum credula posteroSeize the day and put little trust in the futureEzekiel Sutter lives by this saying, and once he is in college, he follows it by throwing himself into his studies to the point of exhaustion.Ezekiel hits his breaking point the week before his calculus exam and falls asleep in the back of the school library, only to be woken by a curious green eyed girl.What follows is a tale of friendship, sorrow, and the question of how much you are willing to sacrifice for the chance to save lives.





	Carpe Diem

"Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." - Quintus Horatius Flaccus

Ezekiel sighed as he leaned back in his chair and cracked his fingers. It was another day spent studying in the library while he could be out with friends. Although, that was assuming that he had friends.

The raven haired boy gave another, heavier sigh and glared at his calculus book as if it had done him a personal injustice.

Why the heck did calculus have to be so frustrating? Ezekiel was almost, just almost starting to regret choosing to major in civil engineering. Both his father and mother had jobs as civil engineers and Ezekiel grew up fantasizing about doing the same.

Ezekiel clenched his jaw, there was no way in heaven or hell that he would just give up. He was Ezekiel O. Sutter and he does not just throw in the towel when things get tough.

He took a deep breath and started to work through the complex numbers in his textbook once again.

He was so immersed in the math that he didn't even notice how tired he was until he dozed off.

Ezekiel's eyebrows scrunched together as he felt a prodding sensation on his forehead.

"Wha-" he groaned as his eyes blinked open-only to see a pair of bright green eyes staring at him intently.

He would later deny this, but Ezekiel was so startled that he leaned back to get away from those emerald eyes-and fell off of the sturdy wooden chair to end up as a dazed heap on the cold floor. Definitely not one of his finer moments.

A loud gasp brought his attention back to the owner of those chrysochlorous eyes. "Why-"

"I'm so, so sorry!" The girl interrupted with a distressed cry. "Are you okay?" Ezekiel realised that she had her left hand outstretched towards him. He looked closer and saw a simple watch with a gray leather strap secured around her wrist.

The watch itself was normal-but why were the hands not ticking? He felt as if he should remember this particular watch, but why?

Ezekiel noticed that he was staring at her wrist as if it held the answer to his very existence and grasped her hand with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry 'bout that, you just startled me," Ezekiel scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes to the ground, a nervous habit of his. 

"I'm sorry!" His head snapped up so fast he got whiplash.

"Wait-"

"I didn't mean to startle you!" Does she cut-off everyone like that?

"It's fine, don't worry," Ezekiel reassured her. A lopsided grin made its way onto the girl's face and he could see the relief in her eyes.

"Thanks! I was so worried you would be mad, I'm happy that you're okay!" Again, Ezekiel had to wonder if this strange bi-polar girl always acted like this.

For the record, Ezekiel doesn't do social interactions and sometimes can come off as a little... harsh. It didn't help that before his rather rude awakening, he was studying calculus.

Ezekiel himself knew this and was trying really hard to be polite, but still, he couldn't help a little jab. He certainly wasn't prepared for what came next.

"Quick question: why were you stabbing me?" To the brunette girl's credit, it only took her a moment to comprehend what he said.

"Stabbing you? They were gentle prods, what was I supposed to do?" Ezekiel had thought she would apologise again, but this was so much more fun.

"Gentle? That was anything but gentle! It felt as if you took a needle to my head over and over again!" The girl raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I'm sorry that I was worried!" The poor lass looked like she was getting truly worked up over his sad attempt at a joke.

"I'm sorry! I was only trying to jest!" That lopsided grin was back and the girl let out a small chuckle that grew into full-out laughter. Now it was Ezekiel's turn to raise an eyebrow. 

"I knew that you dolt!" She gasped out through her laughter. 

Suddenly, she stood up tall with no traces of her previous mirth in her sharp eyes-seriously, what was with this girl 180 degree shifts in her personality?

"Now," she cleared her throat, "the real reason I woke you up: the library is closing for the night."

Ezekiel's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" He demanded, shoving his books into his backpack as fast as he could.

The corner of her lips twitched upwards. "Calm your horses, you can properly clean up. It's just a warning."

He sighed in relief as he slowed down and straightened out a few of his papers.

"Hey, I didn't mean to go as slow as a snail." Ezekiel's eye twitched, but he sped up all the same.

As the duo walked out of the library into the cool, crisp night air, the girl asked, "So, why did you fall asleep on top of your textbook?"

Ezekiel pondered the question for a moment and was about to give a half-assed answer, but turned and saw genuine concern in the girl's emerald eyes. His breath caught in his throat and he froze for a second. He wasn't used to seeing that look directed at him and he couldn't help the small smile that formed as he forced his eyes back to the path ahead.

"I have calculus exams coming up and I wanted to be prepared." He shrugged glancing over at the blonde.

She appeared to be lost in thought, with her eyebrows scrunched up and a small frown on her face. "You know, I heard this saying once: carpe diem."

Ezekiel raised his eyebrows, "You know, I practically live by that saying. My dad loves it."

The girl laughed. "I don't even remember where I heard it, but you know, I don't completely agree with it."

"Why?" He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that there was any flaw with it.

"I agree that it is important to prepare for the future, but you overdid it by exhausting yourself. I mean, it's a great concept, but you have use it more like a filter on your life. Be responsible, and overworking yourself isn't being responsible." Ezekiel blinked, that wasn't something he expected the girl to say. He then proceeded to mentally whack himself on the head-he should know to never judge someone too quickly.

"I know, but I suck at calculus and I really need to pass this class."

"And I get that, but getting super stressed is just going to make it worse." She gave him a hard look, as if daring him to argue. "I had an older brother who didn't even realise that SATs were important to his future. He didn't study and just answered what he could to the best of his abilities, guess what, he aced it." Ezekiel could swear he heard her mutter something like 'lucky bastard,' but he wasn't sure and decided to ignore it.

Then he processed what she just told him. He gave the girl a deadpan stare and said, "Really, he didn't know that the SATs were important?"

She shrugged, "It worked, didn't it?" She turned to face him directly, "You said you had trouble with calc right?"

"Yeah."

"How about I help you study?" She offered with an outstretched hand that reminded Ezekiel of her helping him off the cold library floor.

Ezekiel hadn't realised until now how comfortable he felt with this girl and was rather excited by the prospect of seeing her again. "That sounds lovely, thank you!"

"Great," she grinned, "let's meet at the coffee shop on campus at around 10 or so?"

"Works for me. See you tomorrow!" Ezekiel said as he walked towards his dorm.

As they walked their separate ways, Ezekiel came upon yet another realisation: he didn't know the emerald eyed girl's name. He mentally whacked himself again.

He spun around on the ball of his foot, "Wait!"

The girl glanced over her shoulder at him, "What is it?"

"We never introduced ourselves properly," he explained. "My name is Ezekiel Sutter."

"Call me Katie. Katie Touya."

This was the start of a beautiful friendship, although neither knew this at the time.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Constructive crit is welcome!
> 
> Started: 21 July, 2017  
> Finished: 22 July, 2017  
> Word Count: 1388


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